Department of Health and Social Care

World Health Assembly and World Health Organisation

Baroness Randerson: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether any of the UK delegates to (1) the 74th meeting of the World Health Assembly, and (2) the 149th session of the Executive Board of the World Health Organization, were qualified nurses; and if so, whether these delegates attended specifically to represent the nursing profession.

Lord Kamall: No members of the United Kingdom delegation were qualified nurses.

Hospitals: Construction

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the basis for the Department of Health and Social Care’s reported instruction in communications advice to NHS Trusts to describe new wings or units of existing hospitals as new hospitals.

Lord Kamall: The schemes named on 2 October are all hospitals which are in need of investment, but those needs are not all identical and vary across a number of factors. In determining which schemes to take forward and ensure that each hospital could benefit from the most effective and efficient solution for its local requirements, it was necessary to establish common criteria for what constitutes a new hospital. All schemes that are part of the programme are consistent with these criteria.

Department for Education

Assessments

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether consideration of summer term born children was a factor used in the GCSE and A Level teacher-assessed examinations.

Baroness Barran: This year, pupils and students were awarded grades determined by their teachers. Teacher assessed grades allowed results to be based on the knowledge students acquired as a result of what they had been taught, recognising the variability in teaching that some young people experienced.As is the case in years in which exams have gone ahead, students’ grades this year were not adjusted to take account of their birthday.Awarding organisations provided assessment materials, guidance, and training to support centres to make fair, consistent, and evidence-based decisions which are without bias. Ofqual also published information for centres about making objective judgements this year, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/information-for-centres-about-making-objective-judgements. Centres set out how they would ensure objectivity in their centre policies, which were then reviewed by exam boards. Schools, colleges, and exam boards also undertook internal and external checks to help maximise fairness for students, no matter their background.Where students required reasonable adjustments and access arrangements, these should also have been in place when evidence was generated. Where they were not, centres should have taken that into account when coming to their judgement.Teachers, schools and colleges did an excellent job in using their collective experience to assess students in 2021. These grades reflect students’ hard work in a hugely challenging year.Whatever month of the year a child is born, schools are dedicated to providing for the needs of each child to help prepare them for a successful education. Teachers understand that children have different starting points when beginning school and are trained to adapt their teaching to suit an individual child’s strengths and needs and provide extra support where necessary. Despite this, no child is required to start school until they reach compulsory school age, which for a summer born child is a full academic year after they could first have been admitted to school.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

UN Climate Conference 2021: British Overseas Territories

Lord Randall of Uxbridge: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to enablefull (1) participation, and (2) attendance, by representatives of each of the UK Overseas Territories at COP26.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The UK Government is working closely with the Overseas Territories to ensure that their valuable contribution to address the environmental issues they face is featured appropriately during COP26, including in the UK Pavilion. The Overseas Territories are collectively participating in COP26 to showcase their unique biodiversity, environments and marine protected areas.Representatives of the Overseas Territories will attend COP26. However, the number of attendees from the Overseas Territories is not currently finalised.

British Virgin Islands: Biodiversity and Nature Conservation

Lord Randall of Uxbridge: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the UK's exit from the EU on funding for conservation and biodiversity projects in the British Virgin Islands.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The UK Government continues to support conservation and biodiversity projects in the Overseas Territories following the UK's exit from the EU. The UK Government is monitoring the impact of EU Exit on the territories and taking action to mitigate against the impact of loss of EU environmental funding for the Overseas Territories including the British Virgin Islands, through initiatives such as Darwin Plus. Round 9 of Darwin Plus saw a record investment in 31 projects across the Overseas Territories, totalling more than £8m over three years.

Afghanistan: Halo Trust

The Marquess of Lothian: To ask Her Majesty's Government what support they are providing to the HALO Trust's humanitarian work in Afghanistan, including financial support for landmine clearing equipment.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: In Afghanistan, we will continue to provide life-saving humanitarian support and assistance to those most in need. We will also continue to support humanitarian demining and to support agencies to collect data to map emergency humanitarian needs and respond effectively.

Diplomatic Service: Mandarin Language

The Marquess of Lothian: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many of their diplomats possess advanced language qualifications in Mandarin Chinese.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: Over the past 5 years 63 FCDO staff have achieved qualifications in Mandarin at C1 or C2 level (in the Common European Framework Reference scale). FCDO language qualifications are valid for 5 years.

Afghanistan: Terrorism

Lord Dodds of Duncairn: To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have held with NATO member states in relation to preventing Afghanistan becoming a base for terrorist training camps.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The UK continues to monitor closely the terrorist threat from Afghanistan, including from Al Qaeda and ISKP, and has proscribed both of these organisations and their associated groups. These topics are routinely discussed at NATO meetings, and bilaterally with NATO allies including US, Canada, Turkey, France and Germany at Foreign Minister and Head of State level. We are working with our international partners to stop Afghanistan from again becoming a haven and inspiration for terrorism and thereby reduce the terrorist risk to the UK and the international community.

Afghanistan: Humanitarian Aid

Lord Dodds of Duncairn: To ask Her Majesty's Government which countries neighbouring Afghanistan are in receipt of the £30 million of humanitarian aid announced by the Foreign Secretary on 3 September.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: On 3 September FCDO announced £30 million in additional humanitarian funding to assist the regional response to the surge in refugees. £10 million was immediately made available to humanitarian partners, such as the UNHCR, to enable essential supplies such as shelters, sanitation and hygiene facilities to be erected at the Afghanistan border. The remaining £20 million of funding is flexible to rapidly scale up the response to hosting communities in affected countries if a mass movement of population takes place.

Afghanistan: Refugees

Lord Dodds of Duncairn: To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the outcome of their discussions with the government of Pakistan regarding safe passage for Afghan and other citizens crossing the border.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The former Foreign Secretary met with Prime Minister Imran Khan and Foreign Minister Qureshi and discussed working together to support the people of Afghanistan and to ensure safe passage out of the country.We will continue to explore all routes (air or land) with neighbouring countries, and what means can be put in place for Afghans to come to the UK, where that is their most appropriate destination.

Fawzia Koofi

Baroness D'Souza: To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they received regarding facilitating the safe passage to the UK of Fawzia Koofi, a former Deputy Speaker in the Parliament of Afghanistan; whether they responded to any such communications; if not, why not; and what assessment they have made of the possibility of offering Fawzia Koofi safe passage.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: This question is about an individual's situation. I have written to the Noble Lady.

Central Asia: Counter-terrorism

Baroness D'Souza: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have (1) to develop, and (2) to build support for, a regional counter-terrorism programme in Central Asia; from where they will seek to build support for any such programme; and what assessment they have made of their ability to build any such support in the absence of cooperation with the Taliban to counter international terrorist threats from (a) Al-Qaida, (b) ISIS, and (c) related splinter groups.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: We must prevent Afghanistan from again becoming a haven for terrorism, including from Al-Qaida and ISIS, and an exporter of instability.We will continue to convene partners both bilaterally and through the G7, the UN Security Council, and NATO and we expect that NATO will continue to have a role in fighting terrorism. We will work with our partners to use all levers at our disposal to disrupt terrorist groups' access to resources. This will include leading an international approach to prevent and deter Foreign Terrorist Fighters travelling to Afghanistan and effective implementation of counter-terrorism focused sanctions against terrorists in Afghanistan.We will engage regional governments, in particular India and Pakistan, to work to prevent Afghanistan becoming a haven for terrorism. I visited Uzbekistan on 14 September, after visiting Uzbekistan and Tajikistan the week of 30 August for discussions on Afghanistan. The former Foreign Secretary also visited Islamabad to address the issue of terrorism and discussed it with the Pakistani and Indian foreign ministers. We will build regional resilience to prevent any spread of instability/extremist and to counter radicalising narratives.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Pets: Imports

Baroness McIntosh of Pickering: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to prepare for the requirement for mandatory veterinary health certificates for imports from the EU, that come into force on 1 October.

Lord Benyon: The Government has set out a new timetable for introducing full import controls for sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) goods being imported from the EU to the UK.The new timetable considers the challenges businesses have faced due to the global pandemic, as well as its impact on supply chains across the UK and Europe. The Government believes a more pragmatic timetable will help give businesses time to recover from the pandemic and adjust to the new processes.The controls will now be phased in across 2022.From 1 July 2022:The new requirements for GB Export Health Certificates from EU exporters, which were due to be introduced on 1 October 2021, will now be introduced on 1 July 2022.Phytosanitary certificates for lower risk plant produce, due to be introduced on 1 January 2022, will now be introduced on 1 July 2022.Physical checks on SPS goods at Border Control Posts will now begin on 1 July 2022.All current controls for live animals, products of animal origin under safeguard measures and high priority plants and plant products remain unchanged.In addition, the following customs controls will be phased in:Full customs declarations and controls will be introduced on 1 January 2022 as previously announced.Safety and Security declarations on imports will be required as of 1 July 2022 as opposed to 1 January 2022.The new timeline allows importers, exporters and EU certifiers more time to prepare for the requirements and controls. It will ensure we reduce any anticipated disruption when these measures are introduced.Defra has been working hard with businesses to ensure they are prepared and has run numerous webinars and advice sessions, attended by around 4,000 businesses.Around 4,600 businesses are already registered for the Import of Products, Animals, Food and Feed System (IPAFFS). More than 13,000 individual users are registered for IPAFFS.The process is simple and only requires a Government Gateway account to register. We have sought to make these processes as straightforward as possible, and many thousands of businesses are already prepared for their introduction.Defra is working closely with customs agents who are keen to provide import and export support to businesses. We are looking to provide digital solutions to simplify processes and encouraging more agents to offer pre-notification support and support to EU exporters.Pre-notification procedures from January 2022 to July 2022 have been reduced and now mirror the current import process introduced for live animals in January this year, requiring importers or their agents to complete 15 simple information boxes on IPAFFS.

Home Office

Interpreters: Afghanistan

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty's Government what support they are giving toformer Afghan interpreters who have been granted asylum in the UK to seek employment.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: The Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) launched on 1 April 2021, offering relocation to former Locally Employed Staff in Afghanistan who have been assessed to be at serious risk as a result of their work. Work is underway across the whole of Government to ensure the Afghans who stood side by side with us in conflict, their families and those at highest risk who have been evacuated, are supported as they now rebuild their lives in the UK.All those brought to the UK under the ARAP scheme will have the right to work, access to education and healthcare, and will be able to apply for public funds. The support provided to them will be similar to that received by those who came on the Syrian Resettlement Programme, ensuring that those who risked their lives by working closely with the British military and UK Government in Afghanistan get access to the vital healthcare, education, accommodation and support into employment they need to fully integrate into society.

Undocumented Migrants: English Channel

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had withthe devolved administrations regarding their policy to end illegal crossings of the English Channel by migrant vessels.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: Border Security is a reserved matter. Consequently, discussions on this subject have not taken place with the devolved administrations, and there are no plans to do so.

Asylum: Afghanistan

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they areprioritising Afghan asylum seekers who are (1) women, (2) children, and (3) deemed to be especially vulnerable; and if so, what processes they are using to identify these people.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: Through the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) the UK will relocate up to 20,000 people at risk, including women and girls and minority groups, so they can rebuild their lives in safety.On 13th September, further details on this scheme were set out in a statement made in the House of Commons and published on gov.uk. Through these statements, the Government confirmed that the ACRS will prioritise those who have assisted the UK efforts in Afghanistan and stood up for the values we share such as democracy, women’s rights and freedom of speech and the rule of law, as well as other vulnerable people, including women, girls and members of minority groups at risk (including ethnic and religious minorities and LGBT+).To help identify those most at risk and vulnerable, the government will work closely with the UN’s Refugee Agency, UNHCR, to identify and resettle refugees who have fled Afghanistan based on their protection and humanitarian need. The government will also work with international partners and NGOs in the region to implement a referral process for people inside Afghanistan, where safe passage can be arranged, and for those that have recently fled to other countries in the region.

Asylum

Lord Marlesford: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many persons claiming asylum have been granted either (1) asylum, or (2) permanent leave to remain, in the UK in each of the last 12 months.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: The Home Office publishes data on asylum applications in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on the number of initial decisions on asylum applications are published in table Asy_D02 of the asylum and resettlement detailed datasets. The table attached is derived from published data.Table 1: Number of people granted protection or leave at initial decision following an asylum claim, by outcome, in the year ending June 2021 (see attached)The latest available data on grants of settlement (indefinite leave to remain) to individuals previously granted refugee status, humanitarian protection or discretionary leave following an asylum application are published in settlement table se_02_q in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’.Table 2: Asylum-related grants of settlement in the year ending June 2021 (see attached) Table 1 & Table 2 - HL2623  (docx, 21.0KB)

Home Office: Recruitment

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they are recruiting extra staff to helpprocess increased numbers of asylum seekers in the UK.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: In support of increasing the number of initial asylum decisions, the Home Office has recruitment strategies in place to increase staffing to more appropriate levels.We are working to almost double the number of decision makers to c.1000 by March 2022.

Cabinet Office

USA: Travel

The Marquess of Lothian: To ask Her Majesty's Government how often the taskforce set up with the United States of America to discuss the establishment of a travel corridor has met; and what progress has been made on agreeing a date to open such a corridor.

Lord True: The Prime Minister and US President announced the establishment of a UK/US Expert Working Group on international travel following their meeting on 10 June 2021. Since then, the group met in full regularly over the summer to discuss the reopening of travel between the UK and US, as well as further engagement between the UK and US chairs, our embassy in Washington, and technical discussions. Facilitated by the UK/US Working Group, the UK reopened travel for double vaccinated US residents on 2 August, meaning that they no longer need to self isolate on arrival into the UK. On 20 September, the US announced that they will allow double vaccinated British nationals to enter the US from November, completing the fully vaccinated travel corridor. Travellers will need proof of full vaccination and a negative COVID test taken three days before departure and will not need to quarantine.